


Their Story - A Hosie AU

by orphan_account



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, Hosie, basically lizzie doesn't exist, hope and josie meet when they're young and are roommates and grow close, hope and josie throughout the years, i have nothing against her but she's not, i mean it's mostly being written at three am but really that's my best writing time so..., lizzie isn't here, please, read it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22189726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Hope and Josie meet when they're younger, they grow up together, and they grow to love each other through all of their many challenges. Lizzie isn't here.There's an exposition thingy in place of the first chapter that explains it better.For the record, I don't hate Lizzie. This is just how to idea came to mind.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 17
Kudos: 144





	1. Exposition

Hope Mikaelson is a girl who never should’ve been born. Her father is a one thousand year old vampire who shouldn’t be able to have kids. Except he was also a werewolf, which allowed him to have a child. Hope’s mother is a werewolf who was in her 20s when they hooked up. Her parents didn’t even really know each other; they just happened to be in the same place at the same time. So yeah, Hope Mikaelson shouldn’t exist.

But she does. She exists, and she’s an extraordinary kid. There are an overwhelming number of people who want her dead, and her father is a notorious killer, but as a kid, she doesn’t know those things. Her parents protect her from all of the things that would want to hurt her, and they do everything they can to keep her blissfully ignorant.

When Hope is old enough to go to school, her parents send her to the Salvatore School. Her father is opposed to it at first, but her parents’ arguments aren’t something she has to deal with. In front of Hope, they are the perfect coparents. 

Josette Elizabeth Saltzman-Forbes, or Josie, is the daughter of the headmaster and a vampire named Caroline Forbes. Her biological mother, Josette Laughlin, was killed while Josie and her twin were still in the womb. The coven Josette was a part of magically transported Josie into Caroline's womb. They meant to do the same for her twin, but they didn't manage it in time. So, really, Josie shouldn't exist either. People have been trying to take both of them out since before they were born, but somehow, they still made it through to meet each other. This is their story.


	2. Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope and Josie meet

Hayley and Klaus make a really big deal of Hope's first day of school. Alaric isn't happy to have Klaus Mikaelson on campus, but Klaus isn't about to leave and Hope is clinging to him, so he lets it be. As they walk onto campus, Alaric walks out to meet them, his daughter at his side. 

Alaric kindly greets Hayley and glares at Klaus before leaning down so that he's at Hope's level. "Hello, Hope," he says with a welcoming smile. Hope looks scared, but she gives him a small smile. "My name is Alaric. This is my daughter, Josie," he says, looking over at Josie. "She's the same age as you. She's going to be your roommate."

Hope looks over at Josie. Josie has a big smile on her face. 

"Hi, Hope. Nice to meet you!" Josie says, holding out a hand. A genuine smile comes to Hope's face. She isn't used to being around people her age, and this little girl seems nice. She shakes her hand.

"Josie, why don't you show Hope to her new room? We'll handle the big people stuff."

"Come on, Hope!" Josie says with a smile, holding out her hand again. After Klaus nods at her to go, she grabs Josie's hand and they run off together to see their room.

After sorting out the paperwork, Klaus and Hayley help Hope set up her new room. Josie offers to help, but she ends up spending the whole time coloring with Hope while the adults figure out where to put everything. 

Later that night, while Hope and Josie are supposed to be sleeping, they sit up playing board games. Josie has candy land, and seeing as Hope never really had any kids to play with, she's overjoyed that she's able to play any game with someone her own age. Her parents tried to give her a normal childhood, and they always played with her when they could, but it just wasn't the same as hanging out with other kids.

"So," Josie says as she moves two green spaces, "your mommy and daddy seem nice."

"Mhm," Hope says as she draws another car. "They're the best."

"My daddy's the best," Josie argues half-jokingly. Hope laughs. "What are you?" Josie asks with curiosity-filled eyes. 

"I'm a witch," Hope says. "And a werewolf. And I'm part vampire. Mommy's a werewolf. Daddy is a vampire and a werewolf, and my grandmother was a witch. But mostly, I'm just a witch. What about you?" 

"I'm a witch too," Josie says with a laugh. "But I'm not like a normal witch. I don't have my own magic. I have to take it from other supernatural stuff. It's called siphoning."

"That sounds cool! Does it hurt the person when you do it?" 

"If I take too much," Josie says, looking away shyly. "I'm not all that good at controlling it yet."

"That's okay," Hope says with a smile. "We both just need to learn! We can do it together. You can siphon me!"

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Josie says, looking away again. "I hurt my mommy."

"I'm strong," Hope says, smiling at her new friend. "I can handle it! But we can talk about all that later. It's your turn."

They play Candy Land way past their bedtimes, and they have fun the whole time.


	3. Defensive

As Josie and Hope get older, they get closer and closer. They're both freaks of nature in their own way, and neither of them fit perfectly into any group. Josie does a little bit more than Hope, but she still doesn't fit completely with the witches. They fit with each other, though, in their own weird way. 

On the weekends, Hope goes home to New Orleans to spend time with her family. Other than that, Hope and Josie spend pretty much all of their time together. They tell each other everything, and they're best friends. Alaric being headmaster and caring immensely about both of them keeps people off their backs, but they're the only real friends they have. And they could never ask for a better best friend.

While Hope tends to be more of a shy introvert, though, Josie likes to meet new people. Even if most of the people look at her a little bit differently than everyone else, it still makes her happy to get to know new people. Hope prefers to paint in her room alone while Josie prefers to run around and try to make new friends.

One day, when both of them are nine years old, Josie walks through their door with another girl by her side. Hope's eyes drift over to them immediately, curiosity spiking. Josie doesn't bring very many people back to their room since she doesn't make close friends to many people and she knows that Hope doesn't like meeting too many new people. 

"Hope," Josie says with a big smile as she runs over to her. "This is my new friend. Her name is Novalee. I call her Nova, though. I wanted you to meet her!"

"Hi," Hope says shyly, putting down her paintbrush. People she meets have a tendency to dislike her due to her parents and the fact that she's not just one species. 

"Hey," Nova says, looking a little bit annoyed. Josie doesn't seem to notice. "Josie, can we go to the park?" 

"That sounds fun! Hope, do you want to come?" Josie asks with a big smile.

"I'm sure she's busy," Nova says, looking at Hope as if telling her that she has to say she is. "She's painting."

"Uh, yeah," Hope says. "I'm busy. Maybe next time."

She knows she doesn't have to do what the other girl wants, but she just wants Josie to be happy. If Josie is going to make friends, Hope is going to support her. If those new friends don't like Hope, so be it. She can't keep Josie all to herself forever, no matter how much she wants to. She can't help feeling a little bit jealous, though.

Nova asks if another friend of hers can come, and of course, Josie says yes. They all go to the park together with Josie's dad. At one point, Nova brings up Hope. 

"So why are you friends with that tribrid girl?" she asks. 

"Nova, that's rude," her friend points out.

"What do you mean?" Josie asks, eyebrows raised curiously. "She's nice. She's my best friend."

"I could be your best friend. She's a freak of nature. She's a joke, Josie. You'll never have any real friends as long as your friends with her."

"Don't say that!" Josie says angrily. "Hope is an amazing friend. She's not a freak or a joke. Why are you acting like that?"

"I'm just telling the truth, Jo. Her parents are killers, and she shouldn't even technically exist. It wouldn't surprise me if she was a killer too," Nova says, rolling her eyes. Josie gets angry. She reaches over, grabbing Nova's arm. She siphons her until Nova screams. Josie lets go, walking off without another word. Alaric stops her after making sure that Nova is okay, asking her why she would do that. 

Even when she explains the situation, he still gets onto her attacking the girl. It's worth it, though. Josie isn't going to let anyone talk bad about her best friend. Not if she can do anything about. Hope doesn't deserve it.

Nova avoids her after that, clearly afraid of Josie. She avoids Hope, too. Hope asks Josie why when she realizes, but Josie just tells her that their friendship didn't work out. She's not going to make Hope feel like more of a freak. 

Josie is hesitant to make new friends after that. After a while, though, she makes new friends who aren't so mean. She brings them to meet Hope and they all get close. But Hope will always be her best friend. Nothing could ever change that.


	4. Roman Sienna

When Hope is thirteen, she gets her first boyfriend. His name is Roman Sienna. Josie feels jealous, and it's the first time she realizes she likes girls. She doesn't say anything, though. Hope seems happy. She doesn't want to take that away, and she doesn't want to ruin their relationship by telling her.

When Hayley goes missing, Hope doesn't suspect Roman for a minute. He comforts her when she's freaking out, but it's Josie that helps her calm down more than anyone. It's Josie that hugs her and sleeps in her bed with her to make sure she's okay throughout the night. It's Josie that tries out locator spells with Hope to find her. She siphons her, and instead of the pain she was expecting, Hope feels an overwhelming warmth that puts her a little at ease.

When Roman leads her to the place he's keeping Hayley and cuffs her, Hope feels more betrayed them she ever has in her life. More than that, though, she's terrified. She doesn't know how to get out of the situation. She's willing to bind her werewolf side, but she's scared that her mother is right and they'll kill them anyway. She cooperates anyways, hoping with every piece of herself that they'll let them go. 

But before Hope can be bound, Roman's mother comes in to try to kill them. Klaus doesn't get there in time, and Hope has to watch as Hayley throws herself out of the door with Roman's mother. He has to watch her mother die. Hope sobs, unsure of what to do. She feels like her whole world is falling apart.

"Hope, I'm so sorry," Roman says. "I thought-"

"You killed my mother!" Hope screams, sadness turning into anger. Hope mutters a few words in latin, and Roman flies through the air, crashing against the wall. 

"Hope, please," Roman begs. "Let me go. I didn't know."

"Incendia," Hope says, pure anger in her eyes and her voice. Roman is set on fire, and Hope leaves as he dies. Klaus is just getting to the property when Hope walks out the door. He drives her home after ensuring that the problem is dealt with and Hope is okay. He tells her that he's proud of her for taking out her enemy. Hope just feels empty. 

The reality of everything that's happened sets in later that day. She's laying in her bed, trying to think of anyone else, when she realizes the tears running door her eyes. She dials Josie's number.

"Hope?" Josie asks.

"Hey Jo," Hope says, voice broken.

"What's wrong?" Josie asks, worry filling her voice. Hope doesn't answer for a moment. "Hope? You're making me worried."

"My mom's dead," Hope says, and she's trying so hard to fight off the overwhelming pain of the words.

"Oh my God," Josie says. "Oh my God. What happened? Are you okay?"

Hope laughs bitterly. "Sorry," Josie says. "Sorry. Stupid question. Of course you aren't okay. I'm going to get my dad to drive me over there. Or I'll have a vampire speed me over there. The point is, I will be there as soon as I can. Of course, that's only if it's what you want. I just want to be there for you."

"Please come," Hope says, voice breaking again. She feels like she can't breathe, and she hates being vulnerable. But she trusts Josie, and there's no one she wants to see more in this moment. Other than her mom, of course.

Josie shows up in about an hour and a half. M.G. brought her, but he left immediately after dropping her off at Hope's house. When Josie shows up at Hope's bedroom door, Hope rushes over to her, engulfing her in her arms before Josie can say anything. Josie closes her eyes, wrapping her arms around the crying tribrid. 

Once Hope pulls away, they walk over to her bed to sit down. Josie sits right next to Hope, placing her hand over Hope's supportively. Hope smiles at her sadly. 

"I killed someone today," Hope says, not looking at Josie. 

"A human?" Josie asks, worried about Hope activating her werewolf curse. Hope shakes her head.

"No," she says. "Roman was working with his mother to kill my mom. I set him on fire, and I left him screaming. Josie, I killed him. I mean, obviously he's a monster who deserved to be punished, but who was I to decide that he had to die? He apologized, and I wouldn't listen. Jo, what if he didn't actually want to hurt anyone. He said he didn't know his mom wanted to kill her, but I didn't believe him. He could've been innocent."

"He did something bad, Hope. He tricked you. He made you think he liked you, and he took part in killing your mother. Maybe you shouldn't have killed him, but you're not evil or anything for taking out the guy who killed your mother. He could've hurt someone else."

"Yeah, I guess," Hope says. "But for a minute, I enjoyed it. I wanted him to suffer, Jo. I love my dad, but I can't pretend he isn't what he is, okay? And I don't want to enjoy hurting people like he does. He's always hid it from me, but I'm not oblivious. What if it's in my blood to just kill a bunch of people. I don't want to hurt anyone else."

"Hope," Josie says softly. "You're okay. You aren't a murderer or a bad person. You are amazing. The fact that you don't want to hurt anyone is proof of that. You aren't like him."

"It doesn't even matter. My mom is dead, Josie. I can't handle it. I can't... I feel like I'm dying, and I don't want to feel this way anymore."

"It's going to be okay, Hope."

"Is it?" Hope asks incredulously. "It would just be so much easier to just turn it all off. Vampires can do that, you know? If I die, I'll trigger my vampire side. And I can just turn it off. I don't have to think about it anymore."

"You can't do that, Hope," Josie says. "You're upset that you hurt someone, right? If you turned it off, you wouldn't feel that. You would hurt more people. And that's not who you are. You are amazing. And I love you, Hope Mikaelson. And so does your dad, and so does my dad. You still have people. It sucks, I know. But don't do this. You're better than this."

"I don't think I'm ever gonna feel okay again," Hope says, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "I can't do this, Jo."

"Yes you can. Hey," Josie says, lifting Hope's chin up to make her look at her. "Yes. You can."

Josie doesn't move her hand from Hope's chin. She feels frozen, looking into her best friend's eyes. Hope looks back into her eyes. Hope doesn't even realize she's leaning in until her lips are on Josie's. Josie kisses back immediately, tangling her fingers in Hope's hair. The kiss last a few seconds before they pull away. Hope and Josie both look stunned. With how overly emotional Hope is right now, though, she doesn't think she can deal with anymore feelings.

"Can we, um, can we talk about this tomorrow?" Hope asks.

"Yeah," Josie says nervously, pulling further away. "Yeah, of course. I'll sleep in a guest room. I told my dad and yours that I'd probably be here for a while."

"Thank you," Hope says. Josie nods. She leaves after saying goodbye, and Hope goes to sleep soon after.

In the weeks that follow, Josie is there for Hope whenever she can be. Hope takes off of school for a while. Josie can't do the same, but she's there every weekend. They get closer and closer as Hope tries to work past her mother's death. One day, when they're sitting on Hope's bed, Josie brings it up.

"Do you actually like me?" Josie asks. "I just mean, did you kiss me because you like me or because you were sad and wanted to do something? I need to know this is real. I love you so much, Hope Mikaelson. And if you just want to be my friend, I'm okay with that. But I need you to tell me."

"Why would you think I don't like you?" Hope asks, eyebrows raised. 

"I don't know," Josie says. "I'm just not really used to people liking me. And you were so emotional the first time and after. I just want to make sure you don't feel pressured to keep being all romantic with me just because you kissed me when you weren't thinking."

"Josette Saltzman," Hope says, tilting Josie's chin up to look straight into her eyes. "I love you. I think I loved you even before I met Roman. I will always love you, Jo. I would choose you 100 times over. I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner."

"Shut up," Josie says with a gigantic smile. She moves forward, kissing Hope. And neither of them have ever been happier.


	5. Parents

It's a couple of months before Hope decides to tell Klaus and the rest of her surviving family about her relationship with Hope. It's not that she hasn't thought about it before. She definitely has. But with knowing how her father is about love interest, she wasn't sure it was the best idea.

She doesn't like hiding it, though. She loves Josie, and she wants everyone to know. Besides, Klaus likes Josie. When Hope comes home every weekend, she comes back with stories of Josie. He always listens intently. Josie even stayed at Hope's house for half of Christmas break, and Klaus was actually the one who brought up the offer. Alaric was hesitant, of course, but he knew that Klaus wouldn't hurt Josie if it would hurt Hope.

So, yeah, Klaus seems to like Josie. Or at least he's nice to her which is kind of rare. But honestly, Hope's a little bit scared that it's only because he wants her to have friends. Because Hayley insisted on it, Klaus wants her to have a semi-normal life. A life with friends. But the thing is, whether it makes her more normal or not, Klaus Mikaelson is unlikely to ever be okay with his daughter dating anyone. Hope knows it, too.

But she still doesn't want to have to keep it a secret anymore. She wants to introduce Josie as her girlfriend. She wants to hold her hand and kiss her whenever she feels like it, regardless of who is around. Of course she's scared, but that's what she wants.

She talks to Josie about it and they agree to do it together when Josie comes over next weekend. She'll be staying the night, so it works out. 

Until then, though, Hope gets to wait anxiously. Josie is there for her, though. She's just as nervous, but she tries to calm Hope down. And no one can calm Hope down as well as her amazing girlfriend.

"Can we tell my dad, too?" Josie asks while they're sitting on the bed. "I mean, I know we're already super stressed about your family, but I would really like to tell my family too. Like after, maybe?"

"What if your dad makes us change rooms?" Hope asks. 

"Good point," Josie says with a laugh. "But," Josie adds, leaning in and pressing her lips to her girlfriend's lips, "we'll be able to do that in public."

"If that's what you want," Hope says with a smile, leaning in to kiss her again. It turns into a make out session that helps them both destress.

That weekend, they both go back to the Hope's house. As they're hanging out in Hope's room, Josie is actually the one who starts freaking out.

"What if your dad actually kills me? I don't want to be dead! Maybe I should drink some vampire blood first. Make sure I come back if he murders me in cold blood," Josie rants as she paces around the room. Having already dealt with most of her worries, Hope feels fine at the moment. Josie's been the one helping her, and Hope not worrying just gives Josie time to worry about it herself.

"Jo, calm down," Hope says, standing up and placing her hands on Josie's shoulders. "He's not going to kill you. He won't do anything that could hurt me mentally or physically. He knows how much I care about you even as a friend. He won't hurt me like that, trust me. And even if he tried, I'd never let anyone hurt you."

"Not even your dad?"

"Not even my dad," Hope says with a smile, lacing her fingers through Josie's. She's not going to hurt her dad, of course, but she would never let him hurt Josie either. Hope will never let anyone hurt Josie. She's a powerful Mikaelson witch, after all. 

Hope told Klaus before that she really wanted a dinner with everyone, so everyone is at the table when she goes down there with Josie to eat. There's a buffet, and Hope knows without a doubt that Klaus compelled a chef to make it. No one in her family is exactly the best at making food. 

She stands there awkwardly, standing in front of their seats for a moment. "Um, Dad," Hope says. "Freya, Uncle Elijah, Aunt Bex, I want you to meet my girlfriend."

Other than Rebekah, who has been out of town with Marcel for quite a while, all of them have already met Josie. Hope thinks it was probably a dumb way of telling them right after she says it, but it's what she's stuck with now. Besides, they've never met Josie as Hope's girlfriend.

Klaus speeds over to Josie. He looks into her eyes, and Josie feels like she's going to melt for a moment. "Make her happy," Klaus say. "If you bring Hope any pain-"

"She gets it, Dad," Hope says, stepping between them. Klaus nods.

"Good," he says before walking back to his seat. 

"I'm so happy for you!" Freya says, standing up and walking over to them. She wraps her arms around the two of them and Hope feels a little bit like crying of happiness.

"Well, I think Josie is a fine choice for a first girlfriend," Elijah says from his seat. "She seems to treat you well, and she is incredibly nice. However, I will gladly back Niklaus's threat if that ceases to be true."

"Well, I can't say much. I've never met you, Josie," Rebekah says as she walks up. She holds out a hand. "I'm Rebekah Mikaelson."

"Josette Saltzman-Forbes," Josie says with a big smile, shaking Rebekah's hand. 

"Forbes? Like that bitch Caroline?" Rebekah asks with raised eyebrows.

"Aunt Bex!" Hope shouts. 

"Sorry," Rebekah says with a roll of her eyes. "I just really hate that bitch. Whatever. Here's to new beginnings, I suppose. Nice to meet you, Josette."

"I go by Josie," she says. 

"Hang on," Rebekah says as something dawns on her. "Caroline was a vampire."

"It's complicated," Josie says with a shrug. 

"Did they really give that bitch the cure?" Rebekah asks incredulously. 

"Actually, my biological mother is a witch named Josette Laughlin. Her psychotic brother killed her on her wedding day with my father. Her coven magically implanted me into my birth mother's womb. I actually had a sister, and they tried to transport both of us, but they only got me out in time."

"So are you a vampire or a witch or what?" Rebekah asks, eyebrows raised.

"Witch," Josie says. "Specifically a siphoner. It means that I don't have any real magic of my own, but I can draw it from other supernatural beings and objects. It sounds lame, but it means I can pretty much dismantle any spell just by drawing from it. I'm basically as powerful as whatever I'm siphoning. I can take someone down by siphoning them until all the magic has left them."

"I actually didn't know that last part," Hope says. "You siphon me all the time. I've never even felt anything."

"I don't siphon enough from you to hurt you," Josie says with a shrug. "I did hurt my mom a few times when I was younger unintentionally, but it was never too bad. It's how I got rid of Novalee."

"You said you just didn't work out as friends," Hope argues, confused.

"She was talking bad about you while we were at the park. So I siphoned her until she screamed and cried. She didn't come around either of us after that, so mission accomplished."

"The fact that you stood up for my daughter proves even more that you are a worthy girlfriend. I'm certainly not a fan of your fathers, Josette, but I am glad that my daughter knows how to pick good girlfriends. If you were someone else, I might've actually killed you upon hearing the news."

"Thank you," Josie says, but it sounds a little bit like a question. 

"Why don't we sit down and eat?" Hope asks, deciding that this conversation is dragging on too long. She certainly doesn't mind talking about Josie, but Josie is clearly uncomfortable, and that's the last thing she wants. They all sit down and finish eating their dinner.

Telling Alaric is a lot easier by comparison. He does switch up the room arrangements, but he's very accepting. Besides, they still see each other all the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a like or a comment. Also! All of the chapters before were prewritten so you may have to wait like a week for the rest. Sorry.


	6. Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> suicide attempt tw  
> If anyone needs me to sum it up because reading it may trigger them, feel free to ask.

Read top notes before reading

Klaus is dead. Klaus is dead, and Hope had to watch the white oak stake go through her father’s heart instead of her own. She feels like she’s drowning, and she can’t think clearly of anything, just looking at the dead body of the father who loved her so much, who protected her from the world and was always there for her. She feels like she can’t even breathe. 

Because she can’t pay attention to anything other than his dead body, she doesn’t see it coming when another man walks up behind her. It feels weirdly like relief when she feels a stake go through her heart. She chokes on blood before dying completely, but as she dies, she thinks about how at least now, she won’t have to live without her father.

Hope wakes up after about an hour of lying on the ground, dead. She’s surprised when she realizes she isn't dead. She knew that dying would wake up her vampire side, but she figured the white oak stake was what had pierced her heart and she wouldn’t come back at all. But as she looks down, she sees a stake made of normal wood still in her heart. Taking a deep breath, she yanks the stake out, letting it fall to the ground. 

She doesn’t know what to do now. Her dad is dead, and a large, overwhelming part of her just wishes that she had died. She doesn’t know why it wasn’t the white oak stake or anything about her killer. All she knows is that Klaus’ body is lying not far from her, and now she doesn’t have either of her parents. She’s an orphan fully triggered tribrid at fifteen, and she doesn’t know how to go through this without her father and mother. 

She can’t help her thoughts becoming darker and darker. If she doesn’t drink blood, she’ll die again. Right now, in all of her grief, it really feels like the right option. Or, she could make it quick. The white oak stake is lying next to her father’s dead body. All she would have to do is drive it through her heart, and it would all be over. It would be so easy. 

She walks over and grabs the stake, looking down at her father’s body in the process. With tears in her eyes, she holds it up, pointed end ready to pierce her heart. Just as she’s about to finish the job, she hears a voice. 

“Hell no,” the voice says, and the person super speeds over and yanks the stake out of the young girl’s hands. Hope looks up to see Caroline Forbes standing over her, tears in her eyes to match Hope’s own. “You are not killing yourself, Hope. You’re a kid, and you don’t deserve to die,” Caroline says, and she looks like she’s barely holding it together. Like helping someone else is the only way to keep herself from completely falling apart.

“I’m gonna be a kid forever,” Hope says with tears in her eyes. “A kid without her parents. I’m a fifteen year old orphan vampire. I don’t want to live like this, not without them.”

“And what about Josie?” Caroline asks, and it throws Hope for a loop. As overwhelmed as she was in her grief, she didn’t even think about how it would affect Josie. But still, she doesn’t want to live like this. 

“Josie will be fine. She has you. She has Alaric and all of her friends,” Hope says and she knows she’s being a little selfish. She’s dealing with a major loss, and her decision is to make her girlfriend do the same. But it just feels like too much, and Hope doesn’t think she’ll ever be okay again. She has to convince herself that Josie will be fine without her.

“You’re right. She does. And it sucks that you don’t. But she is in love with you, Hope. As of just now, I’ve had to lose three people that I have loved. You know as well as I do that it’s a torment no one should ever have to go through. Don’t make my daughter have to deal with that.She doesn’t deserve that.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Hope agrees. “But she also deserves so much better than the orphan tribrid with anger issues. And you’ll be there for her. So give me the stake.”

“I’m not letting you kill yourself, Hope.”

“I’m stronger than you,” Hope says.

“You won’t hurt me,” Caroline says with absolute certainty. Hope shakes her head, tears still running down her cheeks. She stands up.

“You’re right. Can you just.. Can you just hug me?” Hope asks with teary eyes and all the manipulative planning of a Mikaelson. Caroline walks over gladly, engulfing the young girl in her arms. As Hope pulls away after a moment, she snaps Caroline’s neck, letting her girlfriend’s mother fall to the floor. “I’m sorry,” she says as she picks up the stake that fell when Caroline did. She gets in position again, sure that no one will stop her this time.

“Par volant,” Hope hears another voice say, and the stake flies across the area to somewhere a few feet away from hope. “Ignalusa,” Josie says as she walks closer and Hope realizes who it is, and the stake is set on fire. “What the hell, Hope?” Josie asks as she walks closer to Hope, fire in her eyes. And Caroline and whoever else can say whatever they want and try as hard as they can, but there’s only ever been one person to ever get through to Hope, and she’s standing right in front of her, eyes filled with anger and a feeling of betrayal. “You don’t get to leave me.

“Josie,” Hope says, a choked sob coming out along with it through her tears. She stands up and throws herself into Josie’s arms, letting the tears flow even more. Seeing Josie in front of her snapped her out of her suicidal thoughts, and now all she wants is to cry her eyes out on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Josie holds her close, arms wrapped around her in hopes that she might be able to make the youngest Mikaelson feel even a little bit better.

After a few minutes, Hope pulls away. “I’m sorry,” Hope says before anything. “Jo, I’m so, so sorry. I snapped your mom's neck. I-I was gonna kil myself, I-”

“Hey,” Josie says softly, “I forgive you. She’ll wake back up, and you’re still here. that ‘s what matters. You’re what matters. You’re not allowed to die on me, Mikaelson.”

“Okay,” Hope says, and she really means the simple word. Now that the suicidal haze in her brain has been removed, she knows she couldn’t ever do anything that would hurt Josie. "God you're heartbeat is loud," Hope says when she realizes it. She heard it before, but the more time passes, the worse the blood lust is.

"Drink," Josie says softly, holding up her wrist. She doesn’t look the least bit scared, and it surprises Hope a little bit. She thinks of arguing, but she’s so damn hungry, and Josie seems okay with it. Besides, getting to the school to get a blood bag would take way too long and she gets hungrier by the second. She leans into Josie’s raised wrist, sinking her new fangs into it. She can feel Josie wince, but she doesn’t stop, knowing Josie would pull away for real if she wanted her to stop. Josie starts to play with her hair as Hope sucks her blood, and it makes Hope feel a little bit better about it. When she pulls away, Josie is smiling at her in a comforting way, and Hope really believes everything will be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a like or a comment!


	7. Emotions

Going back to school is far from easy for Hope. After Caroline woke up, she made it clear that she forgave Hope, but she has seemed a little more wary of her lately. Hope knows she deserves it, but she still hates it. 

That’s far from the other reason that it’s hard. Apparently, Klaus Mikaelson dying is news that travels fast. Hope gets to overhear people talk about how relieved they are, and she hates so much that she can’t really rightfully argue their relief. 

The people who are considerate enough to offer condolences don’t really make Hope feel much better. She hates to mostly-fake sympathy and the thinly-veiled happiness. It all makes Hope want to scream.

What’s worse is that she can’t even really show how angry she is without people acting like she’s going to hurt them. They’ve all known that she’s a Mikaelson for a long time now, but it’s like the knowledge that her vampire side is awakened now makes even her old friends a little afraid of her. Josie is really the only one at the school treating her completely normally. Even Dr. Saltzman is different now, more distant from her, more defensive in a way, and that’s just another thing she hates.

Hope gets to hear the conversation between Josie’s parents about putting them in a room together again. She didn’t ask, but Caroline knows that Hope really needs Josie right now, and she really thinks it would help. 

“What if she hurts Josie, Caroline?” Alaric asks, clearly exasperated. 

“You know she would never do that! She loves Josie, Ric.”

“I know that, Caroline, but I thought that she would never hurt you, either!”

“She only hurt me so that she could hurt herself, Ric. The only person Hope Mikaelson is a danger to is herself, and Josie is the only one who can make her feel okay.”

“You know I love Hope. I really do, and I want to believe that she would never hurt anyone. But she is still Klaus Mikaelson’s daughter, and now her vampire side is triggered, too. I don’t think she’ll hurt Josie, but what if we’re wrong? Are you willing to risk out daughter’s life on that possibility?”

“You know that I would never risk Josie getting hurt. Not in a million years. But we both know how much Hope cares about Josie; we both know she would never hurt her. And if you stop letting your fear of Klaus cloud your judgement, I know you’ll remember that.”

Alaric sighs. “I know you’re right,” he admits. “I’m just worried. I don’t want either of them hurt.”

“I know,” Caroline says, voice soft with compassion. “They’ve always been better together, though. Both of them will be okay.”

“What about you?” Alaric asks. “Are you okay? I know you loved him.”

“That’s not important right now,” Caroline says, trying to keep all emotions out of her voice. “I’ll go tell Hope to pack her stuff to bring to Josie’s room.”

Hope speeds away from the door of Alaric’s office, not wanting them to know that she was listening in. When Caroline asks her if she wants to room with Josie again, she obviously says yes, trying to seem like she had no idea the question was coming, trying not to show how upset she is about hearing that Alaric thought she would ever hurt Josie. And Hope has never been one for pity gestures, and she knows that’s what this is, but she agrees anyway. She needs Josie. Josie is the only one that makes Hope feel like living is worth it, after all. 

It’s only a week after her father’s death that Hope truly gives up. 

Hope’s fangs are sunk into Josie’s neck. (With Josie’s permission, of course. The bagged blood at the school tastes gross, and Josie has taken to offering regularly with an absolute lack of hesitation, trust and love clear in her eyes every time. At first, Hope fought the idea. Josie won that argument, assuring Hope that she really doesn’t mind.)

When Hope pulls away, she bites her own wrist, giving Josie her blood so that it’ll heal quickly. (That’s normal, too, and the whole routine feels a little intimate in its own way.)

When their ritual is finished, Josie is the one who leans in for a kiss, and Hope reciprocates without hesitation. Another intricate ritual they love to share. 

“We should totally go on a date,” Josie says when she pulls away. “Finals are stressing me out, and I’m in a Hibachi mood.”

“You’re literally always in a hibachi mood,” Hope teases with a smile.

“It’s good!” Josie says with a put. 

“Whatever makes you happy, love,” Hope says, interlacing their fingers. Josie smiles, giving Hope a quick peck on the cheek before rushing over to her side of the room to look for nicer clothes. Hope watches Josie’s adorable excitement with a smile for a moment before walking over to her own dresser. 

When Josie emerges from their bathroom with a beautiful pink dress on, Hope can’t help the smile. “You are absolutely stunning,” Hope says with a gigantic smile. Josie loves dressing up for pretty much every occasion she can, so Hope gets to see Josie in a lot of gorgeous dresses. This particular one is new.

“So do you,” Josie says, smiling at her girlfriend. Hope changed while Josie was in the bathroom, too, though she isn’t dressed quite as extravagantly by any means. 

“These are pretty much my normal clothes,” Hope points out with a laugh. “All of my really nice clothes are at home.”

“You always look amazing, though,” Josie argues. She looks at Hope’s pink shirt. “Besides, you’re wearing my favorite color.”

“Well, I promise to actually dress up for homecoming if you promise to wear that dress.”

“No, no, no,” Josie says, walking over to Hope. “We are buying new dresses for homecoming. You are going to go shopping with me beforehand.”

“If it makes you happy, love,” Hope says with a smile. “Ready to go?” 

“Yep,” Josie says as she grabs her purse. 

“Are we walking or…?”

“It’s a nice day,” Josie points out. 

“Then let’s go,” Hope says. They leave the room, walking to the hibachi place with intertwined hands, feeling safe in each other’s company.

They take back roads as a shortcut, and their mostly empty, but someone is standing in the middle of one of the roads. He’s blocking the path and staring right at them Before either of the girls can ask him to move, he speeds over and grabs Josie.

After getting a fair distance away from Hope, he brings a blade to Josie’s neck, so close that it’s just short of actually drawing blood.

Hope says a spell to get the blade to fly out of the man’s hands, but it doesn’t do anything, and Hope feels her panic levels sky rocket. Her heart is beating at an incredibly fast rate, and she doesn’t know what to do now.

“I had a witch cast a protection spell. Magic doesn’t kill me, and I can’t be killed. Can your girlfriend say the same?” He asks, pressing the blade just a little bit closer. Josie winces as the blade draws a little blood, and Hope feels her blood boil, anger and worry filling the tribrid at the same time. 

“Let her go!” Hope shouts angrily. She wants to attack him, but he could slit Josie’s throat at any moment, and she’s smart enough to know not to make him want to even more. 

“I will,” the man says. “You just have to do something for me.”

“What the hell do you want?” Hope asks angrily. She’ll do anything to save Josie; that’s something she’s always known. It doesn’t mean she isn’t mad about the whole situation. 

“You know that little switch in your brain. The humanity switch. It’s simple; just flick it off.”

“Why do you want that?” Hope asks. It doesn’t make sense. She doesn’t even know who this man is, and she has no idea why he wants her to turn her humanity off. 

“I have my reasons,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Just do it. I can still kill your girlfriend.”

“Hope, no!” Josie says. “Don’t listen to him.”

“Shut up,” the man says, pressing the blade closer. Josie tries not to breathe to keep more blood from pouring from her neck. 

“Fine!” Hope says, trying to stop him from hurting Josie any more. “Just move the blade from her neck.”

The man moves it just far enough that it isn’t actually touching Josie’s neck, but close enough that he can easily kill Josie if Hope tries anything. Hope closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Turns her emotions off as Josie shouts at her not to. When her eyes open, she doesn’t feel anything. The man smiles. 

“Do you care if I kill her?” He asks, bringing the blade closer to Josie’s neck again. Hope rolls her eyes. 

“Do what you want with her,” Hope says, no emotion whatsoever in her eyes or her voice. Josie’s eyes widen with fear, but the man drops the blade. Hope passed the test, so he has no need to kill the siphoner anymore.

“Hope, no!” Josie yells for the second time today, walking a little closer to Hope. “Don’t do this. Turn it back on; you’re better than this.”

“Who says I want to be?” Hope asks, eyebrows raised. “Everything is so clear now. I was so stupid before. Not caring feels so much better. And I promise, if you try to take that away from me, I’ll kill you myself.”

“No, you won’t,” Josie says, walking even closer. “I know you, Hope Mikaelson. You’re not capable of that.”

Hope speeds the rest of the way over to Josie, snapping her neck without a second thought. “Don’t tell me what I’m capable of,” she says as Josie’s body falls to the floor. She kills the man who set this all up to get him out of the way before rushing off to find some food. She doesn’t think for a second about Josie’s dead body still on the road behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please like or leave a comment if you enjoyed!


	8. Transformation

Josie wakes up a few hours later, confused and disoriented. It's the middle of the night, and no one is really out save for a few people, and they're nowhere near her. Despite that, she can hear their voices at a defining volume, and the street lights are practically blinding her.

It takes Josie a moment to figure out why, to remember what happened. But as the memories flood her mind, Josie feels tears come to her eyes.

It was supposed to be date night. It was supposed to be _fun_ , something to get their minds off of all the sucky things in their life. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous. They weren't supposed to get attacked, and Hope wasn't supposed to turn off her humanity. Josie wasn't supposed to die at her lover's hands. This shouldn't have happened, and Josie shouldn't be a vampire now.

Thinking of it all makes her want to give up, makes her want to figure out how that switch works and turn it off herself.

But then she remembers her mom. Her dad. Her friends. She wouldn't want to make anyone she cares about feel even a little bit of what she's feeling now about losing Hope, even if she isn't actually dead.

So she picks up her phone, tells herself one step at a time. She can figure out what to do about Hope later, try to find a way to save her from herself. For now, she clicks her mom's number, holding the phone away from her ear as it rings because _god everything is so loud._

Her mom picks up on the first ring, luckily. "Josie?! Thank god you're okay. You terrified me and your dad. When you get back here, you're going to be grounded for a month, and so is Hope."

Josie lets out a bitter, sadness-filled laugh at the notion, at the idea that they could actually make Hope listen to them right now.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Caroline asks, hearing the sadness in her daughter’s laugh.

“This guy, he grabbed me, and he told Hope that if she didn’t shut off her humanity, he’d kill me,” Josie explains, or at least starts to. Just saying the words makes it feel more real than it already does, and it's all too much.

“Oh god,” Caroline says. “Josie, I’m so sorry. Tell me where you are. I’ll come and get you.”

“She did it, mom. She turned it off, even though I begged her not to. So I begged her to turn it back on, but she just got annoyed.”

“Josie, what did Hope do?” Caroline asks, and Josie can hear her stand up and start to walk around, presumably to get ready to go pick her up.

“She killed me,” Josie says, tears running down her face.

“What?” Caroline asks, stopping in her tracks.

“She drank my blood before we left and she gave me some of hers so that the wound would heal quickly. So, when she killed me-”

“You came back as a vampire,” Caroline says, realization dawning on her.

“Josie, it’s gonna be okay. Text me where you are. I’m going to get your dad and we’ll be right there.”

“Okay,” Josie says, wiping tears from her eyes as her mom hangs up. It’s only now that she realizes the other sound she can now hear. There’s someone close enough that she can hear their heartbeat, and Josie feels an intense hunger that she desperately tries to fight off. She’s sure her mom will bring some blood, and she doesn’t want to hurt anybody. After texting her mom her location, she plays games on her phone to try to distract herself from all the overwhelmingly loud sounds. It doesn't work all that well, but at least it's something to do.

It doesn’t take long for Caroline and Alaric to get there. As they get closer, Josie can hear her dad’s heartbeat more and more, and she backs up a little in fear that she could hurt them. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but she’s heard of vampire that can’t handle the hunger, and she’d rather not risk it right now. Alaric gives her a sympathetic smile, seeming to know what’s bothering her.

“It’s okay, baby,” he says softly. He holds out a blood bag, and Josie hesitantly takes it, drinking it without hesitation because she’s so hungry. She doesn’t want to be a vampire, but she doesn’t want to die either, so she’s kind of stuck. After Josie finishes the blood bag, Caroline rushes over and hugs her and Alaric quickly joins in. Josie can still hear his heart beating, but it’s a lot quieter now.

Everything is quieter now, and the bright lights aren’t quite as blinding, and Josie couldn’t be more thankful for that as she hugs her parents, feeling super thankful for them, too. After the first time, she changes to drinking the school's animal blood for the most part.

Being a vampire, or a heretic, technically, is something Josie never really wanted for the most part. There was one time when she thought about how Hope would live forever and how she didn’t want to die on her, how she wanted to spend forever with the tribrid. But even then, she was terrified of the idea and decided to just try not to think about it. She had heard so many bad things about being a vampire from some of her friends. Sure, she heard about the perks, too, but it just didn’t sound all that appealing.

Now, though, she’s stuck with it. With how divided the school can be, it’s weird to be a witch and a vampire now. Looking back, she imagines how much it must of sucked for Hope, and Josie’s not even three species.

No matter what Josie does, her mind keeps going back to Hope. She dreams of Hope killing her, thinks about how the only way she ever would’ve wanted to be a vampire is with Hope, thinks of what Hope could be doing. Her parents have told her not to try to go see her or anything, but Josie just can’t imagine spending much longer without the other girl, let alone forever.

Josie feels like she’s falling apart at the seams, and there’s only one person who can fix it. So despite her parents orders, she leaves the school. She doesn’t tell them before she goes, knowing that they’ll try to stop her. She just leaves a note letting them know what she’s doing. She knows she’ll be in trouble when she gets back, and she knows they'll be worried and she hates that, but none of that is the point right now. Right now, the most important thing is finding Hope and getting her back to normal. Everything else can wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please like or leave a comment!


	9. Finding Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long! Been dealing with a lot but I'm back!!! Hope you enjoy.

Josie realizes, about half way to where Hope should be according to her locater spell, that she’s not being very smart about this right now. She doesn’t have any actual plan here other than finding Hope and trying to convince her to turn it on. But Hope snapped her neck without hesitation. She doesn’t care about Josie right now. She doesn’t care about anything.

Josie has watched Hope go through so much heartbreak, and if she was in Hope’s position, she’s not entirely sure she would ever turn it back on. She wouldn’t want to let that pain back in. So going to Hope with no real plan is, Josie realizes, kind of idiotic.

So Josie thinks it over and tries to come up with a plan. Then, she gets to work.

…

Josie walks up to the abandoned road that reminds her a little too much of the one that she died on. She spots Hope with her fangs in some woman’s neck, draining her blood. When she’s done, Hope let’s the body fall to the floor after the woman is dead. Hope looks over at Josie, and Josie can’t help feeling a little scared. Just because she loves Hope doesn’t mean the memory of Hope killing her isn’t fresh in her mind.

“What do you want?” Hope asks. “I realized after I killed you that you would come back, but I just assumed you’d be smart enough to stay away from me. Guess you’re just really bad at taking a hint.”

“Hope, please,” Josie begs. “Please, just turn it back on. If you were the real you, you would want to turn it back on.”

“The “real me” was boring and dumb. I mean, she loved you. I can’t even imagine. Now, I have no problem whatsoever killing you again if you won’t leave me alone. So what’s it gonna be?”

“I’m never leaving you alone. For as long as I live, no matter what happens, I’m yours. And I’ll always fight for you,” Josie says, meaning it more than she could ever explain.

“Your mistake,” Hope says, rolling her eyes. She runs over, reaching into Josie’s chest and wrapping her hand around the heretic’s heart. Josie grabs Hope’s wrist, siphoning until Hope’s hand loosens and Hope falls to the ground. Josie sighs, taking a deep breath, incredibly glad to know that her heart is still beating inside of her chest.

Josie picks up a majorly weakened but not dead Hope Mikaelson, carrying her to a hotel room that she rented before she came. She walks in to see Rebekah and Marcel sitting on the bed, awaiting Josie’s arrival. 

“She’s unconscious,” Josie explains like it’s not obvious. “I siphoned her, but the effects should wear off soon.”

“And then what?” Rebekah asks. “You didn’t give us much insight; you just demanded that we show up. If I didn’t already know you were trustworthy, I’d probably have killed you by now for hurting my niece.”

“She turned her humanity off,” Josie explains tiredly. This whole situation is exhausting and she can’t wait for it to be over. “She also killed me, but as you can tell, I’m back.”

“I was wondering how you got turned,” Rebekah says with a sigh. 

“So, what is it that you’re wanting us to do?” Marcel asks. Of course he wants to help his niece/sister, but he doesn’t know how.

“She’s a vampire,” Josie points out. “Rebekah’s an original. Can’t she compel her to turn it back on?” Josie asks. 

“I can try, but she’s Nik’s daughter. I don’t know if she’s susceptible to normal vampire weaknesses. Besides, it feels a little wrong to take away my niece’s free will.”

“If she was herself right now, she would want it. I’m sure that you know that. You know her. She’s hurting people, and the real Hope would never be okay.”

“I still don’t know if it’ll work. As the daughter of an original, she may be uncompellable. It’s not like we’ve ever tried.”

“But you can now,” Josie says. “Please. I need her back. And I know this is what she would want. Will you try?”

“I’ll try,” Marcel says, standing up. “I’m an enhanced original, so I’m stronger. Bigger chance of it working.”

“Okay,” Josie says. She doesn’t care who does it. She just wants the love of her life back. Josie grabs a blood bag and walks over to Hope. She holds it to Hope’s lips, knowing that it’ll make her wake up. Hope stirs out of her sleep, grabbing the bag out of Josie’s hand and draining it quickly. When it’s gone, she sighs.

“What the hell?” She asks. “I had my hand around your heart. Then… you took my power. Screw you, Jo. I’m gonna kill you for real this time.”

“No, you aren’t,” Josie says, backing away. Hope looks around as she stands up, still a little weakened. She’s thinking she really needs to find some fresh blood before she sees Rebekah and Marcel staring at her from the other side of the room. 

“Lovely family reunion. Might be missing a few members, though,” Hope says, rolling her eyes. “What is this? An intervention? I’m not turning it back on.”

Marcel runs over at vamp speed. He puts his hands on Hope’s shoulders and looks into her eyes. Hope chants a word in latin and sends him across the room. Rebekah runs over, and Hope bites her before she can do anything. Rebekah backs away as the werewolf venom enters her system. 

“Really?” Rebekah screams angrily. While Hope was distracted with Rebekah, Josie had run over and grabbed some cuffs to prevent witchy powers. She puts them on Hope’s wrists before Hope even realizes it. It doesn’t restrict any powers except for the witch ones, but at least it makes the fight a little easier. 

Rebekah and Marcel rush over and hold Hope down. Hope tries to throw them off, but with the both of them, it’s just too hard. Marcel looks into her eyes as he holds her down. 

“Turn it back on,” he says. “Your humanity. Let it in, Hope.”

Hope lies still for a minute, and they can’t really tell if it worked. After a moment, though, she looks around with tears in her eyes. “Oh my god,” Hope says, feeling like full on bursting into tears. “I’m so sorry. Jo, I hurt you. I-I killed you. I’m so sorry.”

Rebekah and Marcel let her go, realizing that she’s back to normal. 

“You weren’t you,” Josie says with a relieved smile, leaning in to hug Hope. “I love you. I’ll always forgive you.”

“And I will forgive you for biting me,” Rebekah says with a forced smile. “But I would really appreciate it if I could just drink some of your blood before the hallucinations start.”

“Sorry,” Hope says. She holds out her wrist towards Rebekah. Rebekah drinks, successfully dodging a day full of agony. "Thank you," Hope says, looking to Marcel. 

As Josie and Hope head back to the school, Hope can't help thinking of all the people she hurt. The woman Josie saw was far from the only one, and Hope thinks it'll probably haunt her for the rest of her life. She's always loved her father, but she never wanted to be like him, and he didn't want that either. Her parents wanted her to be better, and now she feels like a bigger disappointment than she has in a long time. 

When they get back, Caroline and Alaric hug both of them with an overwhelming amount of love and relief, and Hope feels like she doesn't deserve it even a little bit. 

In the following weeks, Hope is more distant. She tries not to make it too clear, but she distances herself from Josie. She sleeps on her own bed and goes to the library most hours of the day when she's not in class so that she's never in the room except when she's sleeping. One day, Josie gets fed up. 

It's a Wednesday, and Hope is once again not in their room. Josie marches her way to the school library and walks up to where Hope is sitting. She pushes the book Hope's reading away. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I was reading," Hope says.

"That's not what I meant. You have to know that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hope says, avoiding Josie's eyes.

""You're avoiding me," Josie points out. "And I have no idea why, but you are. You wanna explain why?"

"I don't deserve you," Hope says quietly, refusing to look into Josie's eyes. "I could hurt you. I did hurt you; I killed you. I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"Yes, you do," Josie argues with a burning passion. She is not going to let Hope think like that. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't feel anything. You did that for me, and then you were gone. Everything you did wasn't the real you. And you say you hurt me, but you're just hurting me more by avoiding me. I love you, Hope. Please just be my girlfriend and stop avoiding me."

And Hope is still angry at herself. She still thinks she doesn't deserve Josie, but the last thing she wants is to hurt Josie more. Besides, it has been horrible not being around Josie. She's been pushing her away by choice, but that doesn't mean it didn't destroy her to be away from her. 

Hope stands up and wraps her arms around Josie, tears streaming down her face as she thinks of everything she's done. And she thinks that just maybe, if Josie can forgive her, maybe she can forgive herself too. Eventually. And Josie will be there as she works towards that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Please leave a like or a comment letting me know what you thought. It's super encouraging.


	10. Back To Normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really, really sorry it's been so long. Just been dealing with a lot, but here's a new chapter that I hope makes up for it. Seeing as I have actual ideas for the next one right now, I think it'll probably be out within a week.

It’s nice to know that Josie forgives her enough for the both of them, and Hope is glad that they’re getting close again. But that doesn’t stop the other problems about her being back. No one told the other students what happened, but they know that Josie came back a heretic, and they know Hope went missing for a while.

The lie Alaric and Caroline help formulate is that Hope left to spend time with her family for a while. As for Josie, the part about Hope feeding Josie her blood to heal Josie stays the same, but they tell everyone that Josie was alone when she died, that some vampire killed her for no reason. They tell Hope that no one needs to know. 

And Hope feels bad that they’re lying for her. She doesn’t want everyone to know what she became, but she knows that Alaric and Caroline have to be a little mad at her. No matter how they act, she killed their daughter. There’s no way they’ve just moved on from that. But they try not to let it show. Alaric is still clearly a little wary of her, but that was a thing before she killed Josie. It just comes with being the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson.

Some of the students believe the lies. But some don’t. Hope overhears them talking about how they saw Hope and Josie leave together right before Josie got turned and Hope disappeared, pointing out that they had to have been together when Josie got killed. She hears them talk about how Hope never just disappears, how most of the time, she doesn’t even leave during school days unless something big and terrible happens.

So they may not know what really happened, but she hears rumors start to circulate the school. Some of them are completely ridiculous, but some of them hit a little too close to the truth. Like when she overhears someone saying that Josie broke up with her so she killed her and then left because she knew Alaric and Caroline would try to kill her. It’s not the truth, but Hope did kill Josie, and that’s what she likes thinking about the absolute least. But still, she doesn’t say anything, just acts like she can’t hear them. 

She ignores it for a long time. But the more vicious rumors spread, and Hope gets to hear people talking about how she’s just like her father. It makes her so angry because her father is dead, and she still has to listen to people talk bad about him. She knows he did bad things, but he was still a good father, and she’d rather focus on that, but it’s hard when everyone around talks about how bad he was. And how bad she is. She hates that they see her like that.

But Hope tries her best to move on, to keep going and ignore everyone. It's hard, but she has Josie by her side, and somehow that's always enough. That doesn't mean that she always agrees with Josie, though.

"Come on, Hope!" Josie begs. 

"I just really don't want to go," Hope explains in exasperation. Prom is in three days, and Josie really wants to go. Hope, personally, doesn't want to listen to everyone whispering about her and try to act like everything's just normal.

"Hope, we have to get back to being semi-normal at some point. Before everything happened-"

"Before I killed you and then a bunch of other people," Hope interjects because Josie dancing around the subject doesn't make her feel any better. Besides, she doesn't deserve to have it all just swept under the rug. People are dead, and Hope feels like everyone that knows is underreacting. They must've had friends and families. She could've taken away someone's best friend or girlfriend or boyfriend or sister or parent, and it's so hard not to think about that. All she wants is to forget about it, but she knows that she doesn't deserve to keep living like normal.

"Before everything happened," Josie repeats, "we really wanted to go to this, remember?"

"I remember, but-" Hope starts, but Josie walks up and kisses her, effectively shutting her up. "What was that for?" Hope asks when she pulls away.

"Because I love you but you have way too many arguments. Look, I don't like being pushy, but this is important to me. You don't even have to dress up; just come. I'm not gonna let you punish yourself for the rest of your life. We're vampires, and that's a long time."

"Okay," Hope says. It being important to Josie is really the selling point that pushes her over the edge. After all, she kind of owes Josie. 

Josie and Hope get to the prom right as it's about to start, fingers intertwined. More than anything, it's Josie's way of making sure Hope knows she's not alone, that she'll be okay. Hope is in a pink dress Josie picked out on short notice when Hope said she wouldn't really mind wearing one. Josie's dress is yellow because that's her favorite color. 

Hope isn't big on dancing, but luckily, neither is Josie. They do dance a little bit, though, because Josie says that if they don't dance at all, it defeats the whole point of prom. Hope doesn't really mind letting Josie drag her out to the middle of the dance floor. She's already here, after all. 

They really only dance for the slow dances, because Hope knows a lot about slow dancing from her aunt and Josie likes anything that involves being close to Hope, even if she does clumsily trip over her feet a couple of times. 

They're together, and they're functional part-vampire hybrids. It feels nice to just be in each other's arms and not feel like the world is falling apart. And Hope tries her hardest to not think of all the bad things she's been through and done for just one night. She really tries, and it almost actually works. But vampire hearing can really suck.

"I heard Josie helped Hope kill some woman in France," some girl says. Hope doesn't know where anyone got that idea, or why they thought up France of all places. But she feels her blood boil as she hears the accusation. Josie didn't do anything wrong, and Hope isn't just going to let people accuse her of it. Without even realizing what she’s doing, Hope vamp-speeds over and snaps the neck of the accuser.

After Hope realizes what she’s done, she runs out of the gym, ignoring everyone’s stares. Ignoring Josie’s voice calling out to her. She runs until she gets outside before sitting down on the steps and letting the tears stream down her face. 

She didn’t mean to do it. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. She didn’t even know that girl. She just hears her insult Josie and she snapped. Oh God, Josie. Josie’s going to hate her now. She’ll think Hope is a monster, and she’ll leave her all alone. Oh God. That girl’s family. They’ll be devastated. Hope knows what it feels like to lose family, and now she’s just done that do another person. She doesn’t even have the excuse of having no feelings this time, of not really being herself. This time no one will forgive her.

Hope is wallowing in self-hatred when Josie shows up.

“I shouldn’t have made you come,” Josie says, stopping a step up from where Hope is sitting. “You’ve been dealing with a lot, and I shouldn’t have made you come.”

“I’m not the victim here, Josie. I just killed a girl. I’m a monster.”

“The girl is a vampire named Katelyn,” Josie says, stepping down the the step Hope is on to get closer to her. “She’ll wake up. She’s not really dead.”

Hope breathes a heavy sigh of relief. She didn’t even think of that. She feels dumb for not thinking about this being a school of ⅓ vampires, and of the fact that there was a one in three chance to girl was one.But more than that, more than anything, it’s the relief that overtakes her. But still, it doesn’t make it okay.

“I still tried to kill her,” Hope points out because it’s true and it’s not like she knew the girl was a vampire when she snapped her neck. 

“Why did you?” Josie asks.

“She was accusing you of killing someone, and I just got so angry.”

“I can protect myself, Hope. I know you know that,” Josie points out.

“I do,” Hope says with a sigh. “I’ve just been really angry lately, and I can’t stop feeling that way.” 

“Have you talked to Emma?” Josie asks as she finally fully sits down next to Hope.

“No,” Hope sighs. “I know what’s wrong with me, Jo. I killed people for the first time while my humanity was off. The full moon is tomorrow. I triggered the curse, Josie. It’s new wolf aggression mixed with vampirism and Mikaelson anger. Add a little trauma messing with my head and making it nearly impossible to stay in control, and I never really stood a chance. I don’t need Emma to tell me what’s wrong with me.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t even think of the wolf thing. Hope, I’m so sorry.”

“My mom always said that she hoped I never triggered the curse. Said the pain of breaking every bone in your body is practically unbearable. And now I have to go through it tomorrow night, and I don’t even have her with me. Or my dad. Um, I’ve thought about it before, but I always used to imagine my mom and dad there with me. Turning with me and all of us running through the woods together. This was never supposed to happen without them. But instead I’m gonna be all alone, probably in one of those stupid cellars.”

“I’m so sorry, Hope,” Josie says, not really knowing what else to say. “But you’re a hybrid. Can’t you control when you turn?”

“Not the first time,” Hope says with a sigh and a humorless laugh. She feels like the world is falling apart, and there are so many things going on in her mind at once right now.

“Well, I’ll be there with you,” Josie says. “I know it’s not the same as having your parents, but you won’t have to be alone, I promise. I’ll be there every step of the way.”

“No, you won’t,” Hope argues. “You can’t. A werewolf bite is toxic to a vampire.”

“I can’t just leave you alone.”

“Yes, you can. And you will. I can deal with breaking every bone in my body, Jo, but I… I can’t deal with losing you. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you again.”

“Fine,” Josie says with a sigh. “But the second it’s over, I will be there for you. You’re gonna get through it. You’ll be okay. But will you make me a deal?”

“Depends.”

“You’ve been through a lot, Hope. And this might not just be about the wolf thing. I’m sure it’s part of it. But can you promise me that if you keep feeling like this, all angry and sad all the time, you’ll talk to Emma? Or a real therapist? Just somebody. You’ve been through a lot, and I’m worried about you. You need someone to talk to who can really help you if this doesn’t get better.”

“I promise,” Hope says. She doesn’t want to. Talking to Josie is one thing, but talking to someone she isn't close to is absolutely terrifying. But she knows that she can’t keep feeling this way, and she definitely can’t make Josie keep suffering for her mistakes. She’ll do whatever it takes to be worthy of Josie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Please leave a like or a comment if you don't mind.


	11. Transition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope has to face her first full moon with her curse triggered.

“So,” Josie says as she walks into the room, “three hours to full moon time. And guess what? I got my parents to agree to let you turn outside so that you can run around all night in the woods, instead of being stuck in one of those small, boring transitional cells. All the vampires are just going to stay inside.”

“What about the other wolves?” Hope asks. 

“Oh, they’ll still be in the cells. Since you’re a hybrid, we think you might have a little more control over your wolf form.”

“Still seems like favoritism,” Hope points out. It’s not that she wants to have to turn in one of those cells; it’s just that she doesn’t want the other werewolves the think they’re principals are picking favorites.

“It’ll be okay. I think the wolves already know you’re one of their favorite students. You’re like a second daughter to them. Besides, I think you’ve been through enough to earn a little special treatment.”

“Yay for pity favors,” Hope says sarcastically. “What if I still hurt someone? Your theory about my level of control isn’t exactly well tested.”

“Well, like I said, the vampires will be indoors. But I will be with you the whole time. If you do hurt a human, I’ll just heal them.”

“Wait a second. You’re not going to be with me,” Hope argues. “I could kill you. We’ve already been over this, Jo.”

“Yeah, I know, but did you really think that I would ever leave you all alone for something like this if there was any other possible option. For one thing, even if we had no other solution, you could just heal me when you turned back-”

“My dad said that after he broke the curse my grandma put on him and he turned, he was in wolf form for 2 or 3 days. What if I turn, and I bite you, and I don’t turn back quickly, and then you die?”

“Which brings me to number two,” Josie says. “According to my dad, Uncle Kai siphoned a wolf bite once. A person turns into a wolf by magic, so their venom is also magic. So, if you bite me, I’ll just get more power. There is no way that you are going to kill me. We’ll both be fine.”

“I still don’t like the idea of possibly hurting you, Jo,” Hope points out. Even if Josie doesn’t die, Hope knows that she’ll feel terrible if she hurts her at all.

“And I don’t like the idea of you being alone for this. You can’t change my mind, so don’t even try. Everything we go through, we go through it together. Forever. You are never getting rid of me.”

“Like I would ever want to,” Hope says with a smile. She still doesn’t want to risk Josie getting hurt, but she knows that there’s no changing Josie’s mind. Besides, she really doesn’t want to be alone tonight.

Hope and Josie are standing outside, watching as the time comes. Josie grabs Hope’s hand in her own and gives her girlfriend a soft smile because Hope is very clearly scared. “It’ll be okay. I’ve got you.”

Hope just nods, mustering a smile. “My mom once told me that if anything did ever happen to her and she couldn’t be here, to just try to breathe and not fight it. She said it would be more painful if I resisted turning, so I just give into it. But I’m not ready, Jo. I’m never gonna be ready to break every bone in my body, and it’s probably gonna start happening in like five minutes, and I can’t- Jo, I’m not ready. I-”

“Hey, hey, look at me,” Josie says, grabbing Hope’s chin and making her look into her eyes. “It’s going to be okay. Obviously, it’s gonna hurt, but it’s just one night. And after that, you never have to turn again if you don’t want to. All you have to do is get through tonight. And when you turn back, I will be right there next to you.”

Hope nods, trying not to cry. She can’t stop thinking about how upset she is about the fact that her parents aren’t here with her. She loves Josie, much more than she could ever explain, but she hates the fact that she can’t run through the woods with them, that they can’t be here with her. She misses them so much, and the fact that they’re not here just makes the pain she knows she’s about to go through so much worse. 

And it’s even worse when she starts thinking about why she’s in this situation in the first place. About the people she killed. About who she became, and about how her parents always wanted her to be better. She just feels like such a disappointment, and all of the thoughts bombarding her mind are overwhelming. The fact that Josie is standing beside her is the only thing that’s helping her keep it together. 

All of the thoughts in her head are cut off, though, when she starts to feel her bones break. Josie jumps back from Hope in surprise as Hope starts to turn. She knew it would happen, but she didn’t know when.

“You need to leave,” Hope cries out. “I’m not gonna be able to control it, Jo.”

“We talked about this,” Josie says. “I’m with you. Always.” Honestly, she hates watching Hope be in pain more than anything in the world. It hurts Josie to see Hope like this, but she still won’t leave. She’ll never leave Hope alone.

Hope doesn’t argue anymore. She knew Josie wouldn’t change her mind, but she had to try just one more time. Even if she did want to argue more, though, she wouldn’t be able to say much through her screams.

When Hope is fully in wolf form and her bones stop breaking, she runs through the woods, and it’s one of the greatest feelings she’s ever experienced. And Josie stays near her the whole time. 

Hope wakes up hours later, lying on the ground, and Josie is sitting up next to her waiting. Josie smiles at her as she sits up. 

“You did it.”

“Um… did I hurt you?” Hope asks, confused as she looks around. She remembers running through the woods and feeling free, and she remembers starting to turn back, but then it’s blank. She doesn’t remember hurting Josie while she was a wolf, but she’s not sure that her memories are perfectly intact. There’s no way to know for sure without asking. She doesn’t see a bite mark on Josie, but Josie could’ve already siphoned it or be hiding it or something.

“No, you didn’t,” Josie says with a smile. “You never even tried. I think you have a little more control than you thought you were going to.”

“Or maybe I just have an instinct to always protect you no matter what form I’m in,” Hope says, finally returning Josie’s smile.

“How romantic,” Josie jokes. “You were out for about an hour after you turned back. I was a little worried about when you would wake up. Are you in any pain? You know, from all the bone breaking stuff?”

“I definitely was when it was happening. But no, not anymore. It was… weirdly calm after the pain. Just running around, all happy and free.”

“Good,” Josie says. “I’m glad it wasn’t all terrible. You want to go to our room? Actually, we should probably go to my parents offices first. Pretty sure they’ve been worried about you, too.”

“I’m pretty sure they’re probably pretty worried about you. You decided to run around the woods with a werewolf, having no idea what level of control I would have over myself. You’re the dumbest heretic I know, Josie Saltzman-Forbes.”

“Pretty sure I’m the only heretic you know. But I am going to ignore that insult because I've been waiting to kiss you all night,” Josie says, leaning in. Hope laughs before leaning in the rest of the way. Hope’s hands become entangled in Josie’s hair, and they sit there kissing for a few minutes before pulling apart.

“You know, I’m really proud of you for getting through that,” Josie says.

“I didn’t exactly have a choice,” Hope points out. “But I think I might do it again. You know, just for fun. I’ve heard that the bone breaking part gets less painful and it happens faster each time, so… maybe I could just get to the calm, fun part without the suffering part.”

“I hope so,” Josie says. “But, just in case, maybe tell my parents before you do so. Just in case your wolf self thinks the other vamps are fair game.”

“I definitely will,” Hope laughs. “I’m still kind of upset that my mom and dad weren’t able to be there, but I am glad that you were there. Even if I did try to get you to leave.”

“I’m glad I was there, too. Like I said, I’m never leaving your side.”

“And I’m never leaving yours,” Hope says with a smile. She stands up and holds out her hand to help Josie up. They don’t let go of each other’s hands after they’re both up, though. 

After talking to Alaric and Caroline, Hope and Josie go back to their room. They spend the rest of the day watching tv and cuddling. They both feel so relieved that everything finally feels okay for a little while.


End file.
